


Lady and the Chat

by ladybugducoeur (Dawn_Blossom)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Loosely Based on Beauty and the Beast, artistic license - everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-15 23:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5805097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/ladybugducoeur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Marinette agreed to work as a servant in King Gabriel Ageste's castle to settle her father's debt, she had no idea that she would meet a magical cat/man in the forest one night. Falling in love with him was never part of the plan, either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, and welcome to this (very loose) Beauty and the Beast AU! I normally stick to oneshots, so I'm really hoping that I can actually motivate myself to finish a multichapter fic this time! I'm pretty pleased with what I've thought of so far, and I hope you'll also enjoy what I have to write.
> 
> Please keep in mind that I'm a college student, so I can really only work on personal projects like this on the weekend, and some weekends I'm busier than others. Still, I will try to see this story through to the end! (I do have a plan, for once :3)
> 
> Anyway, if you'd like to check out my tumblr, my ML blog is [ladybugducoeur.tumblr.com](http://ladybugducoeur.tumblr.com)

For 17 years, Marinette Dupain-Cheng lived happily with her parents. They were not the richest in France, but what they lacked in money they made up for with love. As bakers, they worked hard every day to serve their customers, but they always made enough money to sustain their household of three.

Marinette knew she was fortunate. She could read and write, though many other girls of her age were not able to. Her parents had no problem allowing her out into the village, when she was not needed at the bakery, of course, and so she had ample opportunity to learn about her world, as well.

For years, she had known she wanted to become a tailor. (Truthfully, she dreamed of creating beautiful clothing that even the nobles would take notice of, though she knew she was more likely to spend her days mending the townspeople’s ragged clothing. But her parents had always encouraged her to dream, and so she continued to hope that someday, if she tried hard enough, her work would be admired all over France.) In her spare time, she made her own clothing. What she couldn’t wear herself, she would sometimes sell, and she liked to think that the occasional bit of extra income was helpful to her parents.

And yet, in the summer of her 17th year, her family’s luck ran out. It had been a hard year; there had been a famine, and while her family had not suffered nearly as much as the farmers had, they had not been able to make as much money as usual. Thus, when debt collectors came to their home one day, they simply did not have any money to give.

“Monsieur, please, I was given 20 years to repay the debt. It has only been 17; there is still time. I-“

The man, who Marinette thought had introduced himself as Roger, did not wait for Tom Dupain to finish his statement. 

“By order of King Gabriel Agreste, you, Tom Dupain, have three days to find the money, or else serve as a laborer in the castle for 10 years. It isn’t hard to understand. Now, if you’ll -“

“WAIT!” Marinette cried, not caring that she was cutting off a man who could throw her in prison. “Um, Monsieur, if someone from his immediate family, say, his daughter, were to offer to take his place, would such a thing be allowed?” she asked as politely as she could manage. Her mother and father made a strangled noise in unison, but she did not turn to look at them.

“I suppose in this instance that it would be allowed,” the officer replied.

“In that case, if we cannot get the money in three days, please come find me, instead,” she said, her eyes shining with determination.

“Whatever, girl. You’d be as decent a servant as any.” He shrugged, then gave her father a glare. “I will be seeing you in three days, Monsieur Dupain.”

And with that, he left their home, uncaring of the pain he left in his wake.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everybody. Here's Chapter 2! And you know what that means? We're only two chapters away from Chat Noir showing up! (Yes, he doesn't show up until Chapter 4... Things got away from me, hahaha...)
> 
> Anyway, uh, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Three days passed, and Marinette left her parents, and she did not regret her decision in the slightest.

Her parents had begged her not to do it. Then, they had ordered her not to do it. Her mother demanded that she stay, that she live out her own dream. Her father had agreed.

“Children shouldn’t be held responsible for their parents’ doings,” he told her. But nothing would change her mind.

“Maman, Papa, you bring happiness to everyone in this town. I was always meant to leave someday,” she admitted, a lump growing in her throat. “I will not be gone forever, but in the meantime, please stay here and take care of the bakery. Stay safe. I love you.”

She did not cry when she left. This was what she had chosen, and she would not look back from it. She was no stranger to hard work, and she had many skills. She knew she could handle whatever the king had to throw at her.

And besides, she had to admit, she always wanted to see the castle.

* * *

The castle was… considerably louder than she had expected, but, well, in hindsight she didn’t know why she had expected quiet. 

“Hey, are you the new servant? I was expecting some old guy, not a girl of your age!” a golden-eyed girl said cheerfully, brushing a strand of her reddish-brown hair behind her ear.

“Um,” Marinette said, her nerves suddenly starting to creep up on her. “Well, aren’t you a girl of my age, too?” she retorted defensively.

The other girl just laughed. “You bet, but _I’m_ not here in debt bondage,” she said, and Marinette felt heat rise to her face. Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, she couldn’t say. But, before she could respond, the girl continued.

“I’m Alya, by the way. I’ll introduce you to the others, I guess, but first, what’s your name?”

Standing straighter, she looked Alya straight in the eye. “My name is Marinette,” she stated confidently.

Alya laughed again. “Marinette, huh? I like you already!” She offered a smile, which Marinette returned. Alya seemed to be genuinely nice, and it put her mind at ease a little. 

“Anyway, those two over there are Rose and Juleka. They’re always together. And that guy over there is Kim; he’s got some serious strength, so don’t go challenging him to a fight,” she joked. “Ivan’s a pretty strong guy, too, but he’s the biggest softie I’ve ever met, especially to Mylene. That’s the girl over there. She gets scared pretty easily, but she works really hard.” She explained.

“Nathanael is the redhead by the wall over there. Honestly, it’s a shame he’s a servant, because he’s got amazing art skills. Someone needs to hurry up and commission him already,” she insisted.

“And then there’s that fool in the corner, Nino. We’re good friends, so I can say that,” she added at Marinette’s disapproving look “And over there is Sabrina, but she doesn’t actually work here. She’s a servant for the Bourgeois family, who are probably the most powerful noble family around here, and so they’re always around. Chloé’s their daughter, and she used to be obsessed with the prince before he disappeared, but now she hangs around and places annoying demands on us,” she complained.

“Wait, what?” Marinette gasped. “The prince disappeared? I’ve never heard about this…” she mentioned, confused.

“Oh, yeah, you’ve got _so_ much gossip to catch up on,” Alya said in amusement. “But anyway, the King hasn’t said anything of the sort, but one day the prince went outside, and ever since then, nobody has been allowed to see him, not even Nino, who used to be his personal servant.

Alya leaned forward to whisper into her ear. “Some people think he was traumatized by something he saw outside, but _some_ people think the King secretly poisoned him and is keeping him locked up so he’ll never have a shot at the crown.”

Marinette blinked, swallowing thickly. If that’s what people thought of the king… Perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to come here.

Alya patted her on the shoulder. “Oh, cheer up. The rumors in this place are ridiculous. I should know, because I’ve started at least half of them.” She grinned, then steered Marinette towards two older women. 

“This is Madame Bustier and Madame Mendeleiev. They’re in charge of us, so just do what they say, okay?”

Marinette nodded, but before Alya could lead her somewhere else, Madame Bustier waved her over.

“Mademoiselle… Marinette, was it? Oh good, I see you’ve already met Mademoiselle Alya. You’re both in the kitchen this evening,” she told them. “I assume you do know how to cook?” she asked Marinette, who quickly nodded. 

“Get going, then. Oh, and here,” she added, handing Marinette a set of clothing. “You’ll need the uniform.”

“Oh, right, um, thanks?” she responded, before letting Alya drag her away.

Maybe working at the castle wouldn’t actually be too bad.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Waiter, what is this Chlorinette doing in my Ladynoir?"
> 
> *ahem* Well, uh, I didn't exactly mean to write as if there were UST between Chloé and Marinette, but, uh, it just happened.
> 
> Anyway, here's chapter 3! I hope you enjoy it :3

Marinette had been at the castle for all of two months, and she was already getting very tired of it. 

Well, not everything was bad. In fact, for the most part, things were going great. She became fast friends with Alya; the girl was kind, energetic, and fun to be around. She certainly had an active imagination, but Marinette enjoyed that, too, giggling as Alya came up with ridiculous explanations for things nobody bothered to inform the servants about. And the other servants were also pretty nice; she felt comfortable with them, at least.

The work itself was easy enough to handle, even if it wasn’t the most exciting thing she had ever done. Everyone seemed particularly excited that she was a good seamstress (“{We’ve been needing new uniforms since forever, but nobody ever gives the servants a tailor who’s actually good.”), so she somehow ended up devoting most of her spare time to sewing, which was, at least, familiar and soothing to her.

All in all, things were actually pretty good. She missed her parents dearly, but she wasn’t entirely displeased with the way her life was going. 

But there was one major problem.

The one and only awful thing about the castle was that Chloé Bourgeois sometimes resided in it.

Alya had warned her about the blonde girl and her constant badgering of the servants, but the warning really hadn’t been enough. No, because Chloé Bourgeois took one glance at Marinette and apparently decided that it was now her job to ensure that Marinette became completely miserable.

“Malette, I’m thirsty; get me some water with precisely three ice cubes, except I don’t want them to be cubes. Make them spheres instead.”

“Mariné, you can sew, riiiiiight? Make me a coat by next week, okaaay?”

“Casse-tête, I can’t reach the shelf; let me stand on your shoulders.”

It was irritating, it was constant, and there was nothing she could do about it. Even Sabrina had thought it was annoying!

“I don’t see why she needs _you_ ,” Sabrina complained. “She’s got _me_ right here!”

“I really wish she would ask you instead of me,” she responded honestly. 

Sabrina had simply left with a huff.

And now, Chloé had her holding up a book for her. She was pointing at a picture of the forest that lay just beside the castle, and she was fake sobbing.

“Oh, my poor, sweet prince Adrien! What horrors he must have seen! What sort of grotesque creature could have hurt his beautiful mind so much that he cannot even bear to see me, his true love? Oh, what a tragedy! Oh, ho, OH ho ho ho!”

Marinette was not amused.

“Mademoiselle, do forgive me, but I believe the book mentions that the forest has long been used solely for hunting? I doubt that the king would allow anything truly dangerous onto his hunting grounds.”

Chloé’s face soured immediately. “And how would _you_ know what it says?” she sneered, grabbing the book out of Marinette’s hands.

“Well, I read a bit of it, while you were… speaking.” It would have been more appropriate to say “whining,” but Marinette did not want to hear even more whining, so she decided to keep that thought to herself.

“Hmph. You don’t have to _lie_ just to impress me, Marinette,” Chloé said with false sweetness. “Who would have bothered teaching someone like _you_ how to read?” 

Marinette tried very hard to keep herself together. She wasn’t sure why Chloé had such a problem with her, but punching the girl in the face would not do anything to help. Instead, she took a deep breath, and began to read a paragraph from the book.

“Once, wild animals were said to roam the forest. However, they were soon depleted due to overhunting. Since this time, the kings and queens have seen it fit to stock the area with game animals,” she read, staring Chloé in the eye. “I am a very lucky girl, mademoiselle. My parents loved me enough to encourage me to develop what others in my town thought an unnecessary skill.”

Chloé had a sort of furiously impressed look on her face. “Well, it _is_ unnecessary, for _you_. Fine, if you’ve read so much about the forest, why don’t you go bring me back some of the moon leaves that grow in the center of it,” she said, pointing to one of the pictures on the next page.

“You… You can’t be serious?” Marinette’s mouth fell slightly open. “It’s forbidden to enter the forest. Even _you_ wouldn’t be allowed in. How am I supposed to get in?”

Chloé shrugged. “I don’t know. Go at night or something.” She gave a cold smile. “And oh, Machette? It would be _awfully_ terrible if someone were to see you around the castle while you’re _supposed_ to be running an errand for me.” She fluttered her eyelashes in false innocence.

Marinette pushed past her, not bothering to stifle her growl as she was leaving.

“And my _name_ is _Marinette_ ,” she muttered on her way out.

She didn’t turn around, so she didn’t see Chloé smirk.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _C'etait un vrai coup de foudre..._
> 
> Happy Valentines Day, fellow miraculers! ^u^ It's very fitting that I'm uploading this chapter today, because Marinette is going to FINALLY meet Chat Noir!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

This was a bad idea. This was the worst idea she had ever had in her life, and that was including the time she was five and she thought she would be able to swing from tree to tree with a yoyo. But oh, this was a _much_ worse idea. This could easily end with her killed, or locked up in prison forever. 

But Chloé…. probably hadn’t really thought she’d do it… So…. why was she doing it?

Because she wanted to. She thought it would be fun, an adventure. And she cursed herself, because this was not a good way to live when you were a servant. It was very dangerous, and such a bad idea, and…

She really loved it.

She had donned a mask, hoping it would protect her identity if someone saw her from a distance (if they saw her up close, well, she was doomed). Her hair, dark as the night itself, was tied into two side ponytails, rather than the bun she wore it in during the daytime.

Given that it was forbidden to enter the forest, she had expected to see guards, but… the area was curiously empty. She couldn’t blame them for not wanting to be outside, though. Clouds obscured the moon and stars, and energy crackled through the cool night air.

It was, frankly, exhilarating. 

She knew where she was supposed to be heading. The moon leaves grew directly in the middle of the forest, where the trees did not grow thickly together, thus allowing the moonlight the magical leaves needed to grow.

Marinette had never come across a truly magical plant before. She couldn’t help but be curious. What would it be like, to hold something like that in her hand? She was going to find out tonight, and the thought thrilled her.

But soon, and long before she was anywhere near the center of the forest, she became aware of another presence in the forest. At first, she assumed it was an animal, perhaps a boar, or an elk, but after a while, she realized that the presence was following her… watching her.

She tried to keep her breathing slow and quiet. She thought she could hear the other’s breathing around her. It was quick, panicked. She turned around, her eyes caught a flash of green in the dark, and – 

A flash of lightning struck a tree in front of her, and as it went up in flames, she heard a wounded cry. A very human cry. There was a man in front of her, and his sleeve was caught on one of the branches of the burning tree. 

It probably would have been _wiser_ to run, and let the man take care of himself, but Marinette wasn’t willing to be that kind of person, and so she ran forwards, towards the flames, determined to get the man out.

The man’s eyes, remarkably feline in nature, were already filled with fear, yet somehow managed to widen further. Strangely, he wore a mask, just as she did. Bu she didn’t have time to dwell on it, for she was tugging on the fabric, desperately hoping it would rip.

“Go away! Please, you have to get out of here! Just leave me,” the man screamed, but she ignored him. Finally, finally, his sleeve ripped, and they tumbled away together.

“H-Hold on,” he said, his breathing ragged. Grabbing her and hugging her to him, he broke into a run. He sped through the forest faster than should have been possible. He didn’t stop until he crossed two streams, reaching… Oh, it was the clearing at the center of the forest. Had he known where she wanted to go?

He released her gently onto the ground, before collapsing to his knees. 

Marinette, perfectly uninjured and capable of getting to her feet, approached him slowly.

“Are you okay? Can you breathe?” She wasn’t particularly familiar with first aid, but damn, she was doing to do everything in her power to make sure this guy was alright.

The man took a deep breath, stretched, and rose to his feet. Then, strangely, he laughed.

“Am I okay? Me?” He laughed again, shaking his head. “I should be asking you that question! What’re you doing out here, princess? Don’t you know there’s a monster in this forest?”

Marinette shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous; there’s no monster here. Anyway, of course I’m fine. You were the one who nearly got burned to a crisp! You should sit down, take a rest for a minute,” she admonished, concern slipping into her tone.

The man smiled, but sat down as she had asked. “You’re wrong about one thing, though. There’s definitely a monster in this forest. I should know, since I’m him.” The cat ears on top of his head drooped, and Marinette narrowed her eyes.

“You don’t look like much of a monster, and you don’t act like one, either,” she insisted.

“I’m not exactly the human-eating kind of monster,” he said, giving a charming smile. “As for not looking like a monster, I have to ask, have you not noticed these?” he asked, pointing to the cat ears. “Or this?” He pointed to the tail that protruded from behind him. “Or the freaky eye thing?” He gestured towards his face. “I can actually see in the dark,” he admitted.

She just laughed at him. “So those cat parts really function? Very interesting, but not exactly monstrous. Are you some sort of magical creature, then?” she asked curiously.

“Uh, magic, yeah,” he responded, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “But still, definitely a monster. Everyone says so. I’m surprised you haven’t heard about the “beast” that roams the forest before now.”

Marinette shook her head. “If that’s what everyone says, then everyone is extremely foolish. If you were a monster, I would be dead by now. A monster would not sit down to have a civil conversation about the subject.”

The man shook his head. “You don’t understand, but that’s probably for the best.” He offered her a smile. “Anyway, you never told me what brought you out here tonight. Not many would venture into the forest alone, and in a mask at that.”

She flushed, and she realized with irritation that the man beside her would be able to see it with his night vision. She sighed, and decided that the time for secrecy had long been passed.

“I came to get some moon leaves. For, um, someone I know,” she admitted.

It was a little strange seeing his ears perk up like a house cat’s, but Marinette made no outward acknowledgement of the movement.

“Really? Then you’re in luck, because they’re growing all around us.”

And, indeed, there were many dark green leaves around them. They emitted a soft white light. It was the glow of magic, she knew, but seeing it in person was much different than reading about it.

“Beautiful,” she whispered. 

“Yes,” her companion agreed. Gently, he plucked one, and slowly approaching her, he wrapped it into her hair.

Marinette put her hand up to it, glancing at him in confusion.

“It’s no flower, but you still look lovely,” he complimented her.

She sighed softly, shaking her head. “I guess that’s one way to carry something.”

The blond grinned. “You’ll be safe from curses as long as you wear it. That’s what the leaves do. They break curses.”

She offered him a small smile of her own. “Well, thank you. But if I don’t get back soon, I’ll have worse things than curses to face.”

He looked up to sky, seeing that the moon had begun to sink.

“You’re right; you can’t be seen out here.”

He scooped her into his arms. She inhaled sharply, but did not protest. He could move much faster than she could, after all. In only a few minutes, they made it to the entrance of the forest.

“Um, thanks for, um, everything, I guess,” she said awkwardly, gesturing to the forest as well as the leaf in her hair.

She turned, ready to return to the castle, but she was stopped by his sudden shout.

“Wait!” he called to her. “What’s your name? I never got it.”

She stiffened, raising one hand to the mask that still adorned her face. The whole point of it was to remain anonymous. She couldn’t reveal herself now… But…

“It’s Ladybug,” she said after a moment. That was the animal that her mask had been inspired by. When she had made it, she had been hoping the little creature’s reputation for good luck would rub off on her. Considering the way the night had gone, perhaps it really had.

“Ladybug.” He rolled the name around in his mouth. “A fitting name for the lovely lady,” he said with a smile. “My name’s Chat Noir.”

“It was nice to meet you, Chat Noir,” she said, nodding towards him. Then, she turned around, heading towards the castle in a run.

In the forest, Chat Noir leaned against a tree, a smile stretched across his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who's hyped or the Christmas special? My first ML fic was a Christmas one so I'm pretty excited for official Christmas shenanigans.
> 
> Okay, okay, haha I know what you're all thinking... "Isn't this story abandoned?" Um, well, yes, I did kind of give up on it. Buuut I did have a chapter written before I stopped, and I figured, hey, maybe I should post it. Also, I did actually have a plan for how the plot would play out, and I figured I may as well post that and give you all some closure. Check the end notes for that!

Marinette really was lucky; she was able to make it back to her quarters without anyone spotting her. She peeled off her mask, stashing it away, and got into her bed. The adrenaline wasn’t going to wear off so quickly, however, so as she tried to calm herself, she carefully pulled the moon leaf out of her ear.

Separated from the main plant, the magical glow had faded enough that the dark leaf looked like it had been merely coated in silver (and she was very thankful that it was no longer emitting light, or she surely would have disturbed a few people with it). She rubbed her thumb against it. It was smooth and cool to the touch, very soothing. Maybe it could be her lucky charm…

But she soon realized that she was going to have to give the leaf to Chloé. She felt a rush of resentment, but then sighed. She shouldn’t be so upset. The whole reason she had got it in the first place was, technically, so she could give it to the irritating blonde. 

Besides, she knew where the leaves were, and what they looked like. She could always go back and get more…

Wait, what? No, she couldn’t do that at all! What was she thinking? She had taken too many chances already; it would be foolish to do it again. And all for what, a souvenir? 

But, she couldn’t deny that she had had a good time. And meeting Chat Noir was… interesting, to say the least. She hadn’t realized that a magical creature lived so close to the castle. It was strange that the king would allow such a thing, but then again, he seemed pretty harmless. She brought her hand up to her head, where his fingers had brushed against her hair. He was very gentle for someone who claimed to be a monster.

A small smile wormed its way onto her face. She wouldn’t mind meeting him again, when she went back.

Wait, when had she decided that she was going back? 

She rolled her eyes, and pressed her face into her arms. 

Who was she kidding? She was going to be going back into the forest, and she knew it.

* * *

“What, that’s impossible! You probably just picked up a random leaf. There’s no way you actually got into the forest and back out without getting eaten by the nasty beast that lives there!” Chloé hissed when Marinette presented her with the small moon leaf. Chloé had immediately snatched it out of her hand, and then proceeded to crush it and accuse Marinette of lying. What was her problem, anyway?

“So, you knew there was something in the forest,” she accused, though she wasn’t willing to call Chat Noir a “nasty beast.” She narrowed her eyes. “Mademoiselle, were you intending to _kill_ me?”

The girl shook her head quickly. “No way, I just didn’t think you’d actually be stupid enough to _go_ ,” she sneered, letting out a sharp laugh. “How was I supposed to know you had a death wish?”

Marinette’s eyes darkened. Chloé Bourgeois was a fool, but it didn’t seem that the girl wanted to permanently damage her. It was… something, she supposed.

“I consider myself fortunate to have returned safely, then, if the forest is as dangerous as you seem to believe.”

Chloé waved her hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, but I wouldn’t go spreading that story around if I were you. Nobody would believe you, anyway.”

Marinette had no intention of ever telling her story to anyone else, of course, considering that she planned on repeating the experience, but Chloé Bourgeois didn’t need to know that.

* * *

As it turned out, it wasn’t until a few nights later that Marinette was able to sneak out again. She had spent the previous nights chatting with Alya. Marinette had complained about Chloé, though she had of course left out some of the details.

“So, uh, she mentioned something about a beast? She was just making that up to scare me, right?”

Alya had shaken her head. “Nope, she actually wasn’t lying about that. There really is some kind of monster in there. Supposedly it’s connected with the prince, because he’s never been out of his chambers since it appeared. Personally, I think the beast attacked him and frightened him into staying in his room all the time! It makes such a good story, don’t you think?”

Marinette had trouble believing that the Chat Noir she saw was capable of actually attacking anyone. While she was sure he was physically capable of it, he didn’t seem like the type. He had seemed… restrained, at first, though he had gradually grown more relaxed around her. She couldn’t imagine him harming the prince on purpose.

Then again, it had been three years since the prince had disappeared from public life. Chat Noir could have changed in that time. Maybe he had been different back then?

Regardless, mere rumors weren’t going to stop her from going back. 

When she finally managed to slip out, she donned her mask and headed straight for the moon leaf clearing. The air outside was calmer than it had been before; she doubted that there would be a repeat of the lightning incident. Still, she forced herself to memorize the flow of every stream, just in case.

She made it to the clearing without a single encounter with Chat Noir. She told herself that this was only to be expected; after all, the forest was huge, and he had no reason to expect her. She still felt stirrings of what she might have recognized as disappointment, had she not decided to ignore the feeling.

Instead, she studied the leaves in front of her. They were supposed to break curses, huh? She supposed that it was useful to have them growing so close to the castle. She didn’t know much about magic, but there were plenty at the castle who did. The former queen, who had died four years earlier, had been a powerful mage, or so she had heard. Mages were welcomed at the castle, though apparently the king refused to speak with them personally ever since his wife’s death. Marinette thought it was understandable, though perhaps a bit unfair to the mages.

A rustling sound from behind her drew her out of her thoughts. She turned, expecting some sort of small animal, and was only half-surprised to see Chat Noir leaping out of a tree and into the clearing. He raised a hand in greeting as he approached her.

“Hello, my lady,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips. “Looking to break some more curses tonight?”

Marinette, amused, snatched her hand back from him. “Not exactly, Chat Noir.”

His ears twitched. “Couldn’t stay away from my presence, then?”

She rolled her eyes. “As enchanting a kitten as you are, no. I just like this place. I wanted to come back, so I did.”

“Ah, but you know it’s forbidden to be in here, yes? And without so much as an errand to complete? How aPAWlling,” he said, grinning at his own joke.

Marinette shook her head, groaning. “You’re terrible.”

“Are you saying you don’t like my puns, my lady?”

She nodded solemnly. “The court jester’s got you beat, I’m afraid.” Pausing as she realized how he continued to address her, she frowned. “And you shouldn’t call me that. I… I don’t have status or anything, uh…”

At her words, Chat began to frown, as well. “You’re in _my_ forest, my lady. You have all the status in the world here,” he insisted.

“ _Your_ forest?” She smiled slightly. “I think the king might disagree with you about that.”

He shook his head. “No, no, it’s _my_ forest. The king never comes out here. He doesn’t like me, you see.”

Suddenly, Marinette was reminded of the rumors about “the beast” and the prince. She swallowed, hesitating for a moment before asking something she hoped wouldn’t offend the man she was starting to hope she could call a friend.

“And… what does the prince think of you?”

She saw him stiffen, though he flicked his tail in a false attempt at being casual.

“Oh, him? Haven’t you heard? I ruined him, you know. Yeah, I ruined Prince Adrien so badly that his father now refuses to look at me. Only reason he hasn’t killed me is because he thinks I can do something to bring the prince back to what he used to be. But I can’t. I don’t have the power.” His tail continued to flick back and forth nervously. Marinette wasn’t sure he was aware of it, but his ears were drooping.

Marinette tentatively put her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I shouldn’t have asked you that. I had heard rumors, but…” She shook her head sadly. “I don’t know what happened, Chat, but I don’t think the king is right to hate you. Whatever the circumstances may have been, I know you’re a good person.”

His eyes glanced between her face and the hand that was still on his shoulder. Slowly, he grabbed it, clasping it in both of his gloved hands.

“Thank you,” he said so quietly that she wouldn’t have been able to hear it if she hadn’t been so intensely focused on him. “I think you’re the only one who’s ever believed that. It means a lot.”

His words made her feel sad and angry. Not at him, of course, but on his behalf. He was obviously upset by the whole ordeal. He sounded genuinely pained when he spoke of how he had “ruined” the prince! He sounded so _sad_ when he spoke of the king’s hatred! And he sounded completely _heartbroken_ when he said he didn’t have the power to fix it! There was no way that the sweet kitten could ever have done something so horrendous that it couldn’t be forgiven. There was no way.

“I’ll come back and see you,” she promised him, pressing her other hand on top of his. “I don’t care about the rules. I’ll come back every chance I get, because you absolutely do not deserve to be alone in this forest.”

“You don’t need to-“

“Oh, I’m doing it. You’re not going to convince me otherwise,” she said seriously. “Besides, what better place for a ladybug, right?” she added, smiling.

An emotion flashed across his face, but he turned away before she could identify it. When he looked at her again, he was grinning.

“Then I’ll await your visits eagerly, my lady.”

* * *

It had been a week since Marinette had started sneaking out regularly to see Chat Noir, and she didn’t regret it a bit. Sure, she was a bit tired, not getting as much sleep as before, but it was worth it to spend time with Chat in the forest. She was becoming quite adept at climbing trees, though she couldn’t do it with such natural ease as her catlike companion could. There were a few scratches on her arms, but they were nothing too serious. Overall, things were going well, and no one seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary with her.

“Girl, I don’t know what’s so important that you have to do it at night, but you’re always coming back tired and bruised and it needs to stop,” Alya scolded in a harsh whisper, startling Marinette as she was getting into her bed.

Okay, maybe she needed to revise that previous statement.

“Whaaaat?” she asked rhetorically, drawing the word out in a high pitched tone. She cringed silently. It was not very convincing. “Psh, ha, Alya, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I, uh, was just, you know, getting a drink of water, uh, because, my mouth was, uh, dry, and-“

Maybe she should be taking acting lessons instead of visiting Chat. Or maybe he could at least help her practice her excuses? 

Alya gave her a look that even in the dark Marinette recognized as incredulous.

“Look, I won’t press you for details, but you’ve got to be careful! I don’t know what you’re used to, but they don’t like people sneaking around the castle. And if you get caught by a noble, or heaven forbid, a royal, they’ll make your life miserable just for fun. “

Marinette looked down at her hands. She traced a small cut on the back of her hand with one finger. The points Alya was making were all perfectly true. She knew her friend was only trying to look out for her. She was hit sudden rush of affection for the girl.

“I know, Alya. There’s… just something that I need to do. But, I promise I’ll be more careful.”

She thought about what would happen if she were caught. Would she get thrown in prison? Or perhaps she would be lashed. She’s heard rumors of servants getting their hands cut off for stealing… Not that she had ever stolen anything, but… At any rate, she would certainly be kept under close scrutiny, and then where would that leave her? And where would that leave Chat, if she wasn’t allowed to see him? If she couldn’t get a message to him, and how would she, then would he feel abandoned? 

“I have to be careful,” she whispered.

Alya shook her head and sighed. “Marinette, I swear, if you don’t get a full night’s rest tomorrow, I’ll drag you into bed myself and glare at you all night until you sleep.”  
“I don’t think I’d get much sleep like that,” Marinette mumbled sleepily, giggling a little.  
“Guess you’d better not test me, then,” Alya said decisively, covering a yawn with her hand.  
“Guess not,” Marinette agreed, then fell into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a brief outline of what I was going to have happen. Do note that these are just the main points; there would have been more filler, featuring some of the side characters. Anyway, on to the plot:
> 
> Mari keeps going into the forest to meet Chat. Eventually she reveals that she's a servant. Chat tries to ask for her name because he really wants to beg his father to let her be his personal servant, but she doesn't take the question well at all, so he never asks her again.
> 
> After a while, it gets hard for Mari to keep sneaking out. She's worried she's going to have to stop, at least for a while, but then one day when she's leaving the forest, she meets Tikki. Tikki introduces herself as a kwami and says she can grant wishes. Mari wishes that she can keep seeing Chat, and so Tikki grants her the power to hide her identity as long as she's wearing the ladybug mask.
> 
> So, the thing about the kwamis is that Gabriel absolutely despises them. He blames them for his wife's death, he blames Nooroo for not being able to grant his wish to resurrect her, and he blames Plagg for "cursing" his son. In fact, that's what he thinks kwamis do, curse. In reality, the kwamis are all good and do their best to actually help people. They are born of magic and come into being when a powerful mage dies. You can see, then, why Gabriel assumes they're responsible for his wife's death. In fact, she did die from a curse, but the kwamis had nothing to do with that. Gabriel just can't be persuaded, though. The only reason he keeps them around is that he still believes that they can bring his wife back if he can just figure out how to force them to use their power.
> 
> Poor Adrien had gone out into the forest one day because his father had been nothing but cold to him for months ever since his mother died and he was feeling pretty down. Plagg offered to grant him a wish, and he wished he had a way to see who really cared for him. So Plagg transformed him into Chat Noir, because y'know, if they love you in scary beast form, they must actually love you, right?
> 
> Now, Gabriel absolutely loses it. Again, he REALLY hates kwami, and now one has "harmed" his son. So he reacts very badly, and basically withdraws from his son while he tries to force Nooroo, the kwami he managed to capture, to fix everything, dang it. Now, Gabriel can't have all the other kingdoms knowing about all the chaos going on in his country, so he needs to keep everything under wraps. So Chat is basically forced to stay in his room, although he eventually gets to go into the forest when it turns out that only Gabriel can recognize him as being Adrien. 
> 
> LB and Chat get to know each other better, and eventually he opens up about his family issues, although he doesn't tell her who he is. The thing is, once they know each other very well, Mari suddenly realizes that Chat looks EXACTLY like Prince Adrien, like, how-could-I-not-have-noticed-this-before EXACTLY like him. Because the whole thing with his wish was to see who cares about him, and once she truly sees the person he is inside, the magic obscuring his identity doesn't affect her, so even though he's clearly got the cat stuff going on, he's also clearly Adrien, too.
> 
> So then I was just going to have them be cute together for awhile, maybe trying to get Gabriel to pay attention to Adrien, but eventually things really hit the fan. The mage who cast the curse on Adrien's mom comes into the castle, comes into the forest, tries to hurt LB and Chat, and they kind of kill him (some kwamis are born from this in one good moment right before everything gets WORSE) but then it turns out that Chat was badly injured... potentially fatally. So LB has to go up to the castle and get Gabriel. It doesn't go great at first because 1. she has a kwami, 2. she knows that Chat is Adrien and she shouldn't, and 3. she shows up with Adrien INJURED and Gabriel was literally about to murder her before she explained the situation.
> 
> Finally we get the happy ending. Adrien wakes up alright. Gabriel is so relieved he hugs him. Adrien's about to cry because his father hasn't hugged him in years. Gabriel basically explains what he was trying to do all this time and Adrien's upset because of course it was a terrible plan and the wrong thing to do, but... he realizes that Gabriel really did care all along. And with that realization, Plagg breaks the transformation. Since "Chat" no longer exists, Tikki breaks her magic, too, and so it's finally Mari and Adrien speaking as themselves. Adrien makes sure that Mari and her family never have to worry about money again. They get married and live happily ever after. The end.


End file.
